Relatively quiet on the domestic front, but Europe had a busy weekend:

Challenge Roth is one of the longest running, largest, and most popular iron-distance triathlons in the world. This fast course has the best crowds you'll ever see. Germans Sebastian Kienle and Daniela Sammler took the podium at this year's 35th edition of the event.

Ironman Austria was also yesterday. A few Boise athletes made the long journey to compete- congrats to you all! The race was won by Austrian Michael Weiss and German Mareen Hufe.

Events We're Looking Forward To-

The Twin Falls Crit is Saturday, July 7th. The city of Twin is going all out for this event, should be a good show!

The 105th edition of the Tour De France starts Saturday, July 7th! Pushed back a week to not clash with the World Cup, the course seems well made for pre-race favorite Chris Froome.

Friday, July 13th is Chrono Kristin Armstrong- the only professional time trial in the country. Also open to amateurs (and triathlon bikes!).

Saturday, July 14 is the YMCA's Y Not Tri at Quinn's Pond. This is a great tuneup sprint distance event for beginners and experienced triathletes. Time to dust off the speedo...

Saturday, July 14th evening is the Boise Twighlight Crit in downtown Boise. I know of few of our local triathlon studs will be racing the Cat 4/5 race at 1:45pm. Pro race starts at 8:15pm.

Training Thoughts and Updates-

We'll be at the pond at 6pm today for our Monday swim.

Starting next Monday (July 9th) at 7am we'll begin hosting a bi-weekly brick session at Boise High Track with GK Endurance coaches and pro triathletes Guy Crawford and Kate Bevilaqua. This free bike/run session will involve ~15min bike intervals followed by 1 mile run repeats. Bring a traditional bike trainer and extra water for this session. The entire session is about 2hrs.

A significant part of training for an event is not just preparing your body, but your mind for what you'll require of it on race day. This is a short refresher on the mental skills required for top sports performance.

Shop Ops-

We'll only be open from 10am-2pm on Wednesday, July 4th.

Popular Social Post-

Scott has his work cut out for him with a backlog of CDA 70.3 images to work through, but until we can publish the full album here are a few of our favoritesso far.

I had an opportunity to share a bit of my history in triathlon with local Personal Trainer and Inspirational Coach Erin Kreitz Shirey earlier this week. Check out the full interview here.

Gear that Caught Our Attention-

Versatility is beginning to take it's rightful place high on the priority list for many cyclist. The explosive growth of gravel bikes, adequate for both on-road and off-road riding, are a great example of this. But practical versatility is finding its way into other categories too, and the Giro Vanquish helmet has quickly become our best selling helmet due to its ability to excel in almost all training and racing conditions.

Quote that Struck a Chord-

I've been reading a lot on Stoicism lately, and have found many great takeaways for both business and sport. Here is a quote from one of the most famous Stoics of all time:

"The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way."

-Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius

If you have a moment to spare-

With the Tour de France just around the corner, it seems appropriate to share possibly the greatest maneuver in Tour history. Regardless of how you may feel about Lance Armstrong, I highly recommend checking out his podcast "The Forward" for great dialogue with a variety of artist, athletes, business leaders, and more. And for his insightful feedback on races check out his other podcast "Stages".